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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28302870">Perfect</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/joplin/pseuds/joplin'>joplin</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Supernatural</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(ignoring the finale), Birthday, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Human Castiel (Supernatural), M/M, Men of Letters Bunker (Supernatural), Post-Canon, Team Free Will 2.0 (Supernatural)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 14:35:38</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,600</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28302870</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/joplin/pseuds/joplin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Jack's birthday, and the whole family is celebrating! This is post-canon (post 15x18 canon) bunker life, with cake (and pie), presents, and fun shenanigans.</p><p>Cas watches his family enjoy a weekend of just that- being a family.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Castiel/Dean Winchester, Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>112</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Perfect</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Claire showed up late that night, hauling a huge bag over her shoulder and positively beaming.</p><p> </p><p>Jack physically perked up in his seat when she walked in, eyes bright and practically vibrating with excitement. Cas saw her roll her eyes as she laughed, but he also noted how she bounded down the stairs with what he could only consider an objectively unsafe rate of speed.</p><p> </p><p>“Claire!” Jack called out at the same time she laughed, “Happy birthday eve, Jack!” She ruffled his hair and let out a laugh as he bear-hugged her. Over their shoulder, she looked at Cas; Jack’s infectious sparkle had already reached her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“Hello, Claire,” he said softly, and her smile widened in return.</p><p> </p><p>She hadn’t even set her bags down before Jack announced, “I have Mario Kart set up, but our spot’s still saved in Lego Star Wars, and Dean also said he got a new game that we can all play together but it’s a present, so I don’t know what it is yet, but I bet we could open it tonight if we ask.”</p><p> </p><p>“Well,” she grinned, setting her duffle down and sliding out of her jacket, “you <em> know </em>I gotta kick your ass in Mario Kart, but I’ll be damned if we don’t get through the droid factory this weekend.”</p><p> </p><p>“Excellent,” Jack smiled broadly, taking Claire’s jacket for her.</p><p> </p><p>“Speaking of Dean,” she circled back, narrowing her eyes and looking around like she had missed something obvious, “where is the old man?”</p><p> </p><p>Cas chuckled and gave a small tilt of his head. “In the kitchen, making ‘<em>top secret preparations.’ </em>I believe Sam and Eileen are helping.”</p><p> </p><p>Cas, of course, was in on these top secret plans- which involved arranging an array of fruits (Jack was especially into cantaloupe and blueberries these days) and chocolates into intricately patterned trays. Though, he was just as excited to see Jack’s surprised face as Sam and Dean were, so he avowed himself to secrecy.</p><p> </p><p>“Shall I grab them?” he asked. Claire had missed her last regular visit for a “rugaru situation,” and Cas knew Dean had been missing her extra for it.</p><p> </p><p>“In a minute,” she smiled. “Jack and I have to get changed.”</p><p> </p><p>“What?” Jack asked, the tilt of his head a stunning resemblance to his father.</p><p> </p><p>“You heard me,” she offered with no explanation. Grabbing a package from her duffle in one hand and Jack’s arm in the other, she marched them away. “Gift number one, head ‘em out.”</p><p> </p><p>Cas chuckled under his breath again as he watched them shuffle together into the hallway. Scooching the duffle bag into a more secure position than where Claire had left it at the edge of the table, he turned and headed for the kitchen.</p><p> </p><p>As he stepped down through the doorway, he could hear Dean telling Sam, “I know you have Sasquatch hands, but could you at least <em> try </em> to have some finesse? We’re not making macaroni art here, Sam, this is supposed to be <em> presentable </em>.”</p><p> </p><p>Eileen was stationed behind them, cutting up bits of fruit, and caught Cas’s gaze as he walked in. She rolled her eyes dramatically, and he nodded back in satirically grave agreement.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, well,” Sam rebuffed haughtily, “maybe if you weren’t breathing down my neck dictating my every move, I wouldn’t-”</p><p> </p><p>“Cas!” Dean exclaimed, catching sight of him as he turned toward a platter sitting on the island.</p><p> </p><p>Sam wheeled around, clearly embarrassed, as Dean blazed on. “How’re the decorations coming?”</p><p> </p><p>Cas loved seeing him like this- sleeves rolled up in concentration, the idea of a smile just starting to play across his face. A spark of adrenaline in his eyes that had nothing to do with imminent danger. </p><p> </p><p>Since they had all decided to really give <em> home </em>a try lately, Dean had been absolutely thriving from it. He spent most of his free time in the kitchen these days, crafting increasingly elaborate lunches; Cas had taken to doing his reading at the corner table, just in the hopes of seeing Dean get flour smudged across his cheek again. The memory alone was worth a smile.</p><p> </p><p>“They’re just about done,” he answered softly. “Claire is here.”</p><p> </p><p>An earnest softness flashed through Dean’s eyes before he put up his playfully grumpy ruse. “Well, about time!” he huffed. He dried his hands on his jeans and moved at once for the doorway, but not so quickly that he couldn’t brush his fingers against the back of Cas’s hand- or his lips across Cas’s temple- on his way out.</p><p> </p><p>Cas caught Eileen’s smile again as Sam announced, “Right, well, there’s no point in trying to do this unsupervised,” so after some careful plastic wrapping, the three of them filed back out to the front room.</p><p> </p><p>At the sight awaiting them, Sam let out an unironic and positively gleeful, “<em>Aww! </em>”</p><p> </p><p>(Claire’s first gift to Jack was, apparently, matching pajamas.)</p><p> </p><p>Dean already had them posing, full Vogue style, for pictures on his phone.</p><p> </p><p>Once Cas got past the brightly colored feather boas and absurdly large plastic sunglasses the pair had donned, he also noticed their t-shirts-- emblazoned with the words “<em>Your princess is in another castle”  </em>across the front-- and the matching flannel pants to go with them.</p><p> </p><p>“Castiel, look!” Jack called across the room, pushing the glasses up onto his forehead so he could see. (Dean’s phone made another shutter noise.) They slung an arm around Claire’s shoulders and beamed, “We match!”</p><p> </p><p>Cas felt the grin split across his face. “That you do.”</p><p> </p><p>“I look better though, obviously,” Claire played haughtily, giving her boa a flip.</p><p> </p><p>“I was going to suggest some dinner,” Sam smiled, “but I’ll just bring out some sandwiches, since I can see there’s clearly very important business happening here.”</p><p> </p><p>Jack rang out an earnest, “Oh, thank you, Sam!” at the same time Claire drawled out an overly decadent “Thank you, <em> dahling </em>.”</p><p> </p><p>As Sam giggled his way out of the room, Jack’s smile lit back up and aimed itself toward Cas. There was little the man could do in the way of turning Jack down, so he allowed himself to be pulled into the photograph session when urged. In fact, by the time Sam returned with a tray of snacks, glasses had found their way onto both Dean and Cas, and Eileen was sporting Claire’s feathers.</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>Dinner passed in the loud and playful rush that only the best of families know. Eventually, Claire and Jack excused themselves- undoubtedly with several hours of Mario Kart in their immediate future- with Sam and Eileen turning in soon after. As they walked out of the room, Cas surveyed the explosion before him; food scraps and loose feathers adorned the table. A pile of gifts- wrapped with varying degrees of success- was spilling out of Claire’s duffle, still sitting at the far end. He toyed with a pair of abandoned sunglasses and looked over at Dean.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s perfect,” he said simply.</p><p> </p><p>Dean didn’t have to ask what he meant.</p><p> </p><p>They had been through so much so quickly in the last few years that their new change of pace was almost unbearably welcome. With Cas becoming human and he and Eileen both moving into the bunker full time, the group had slipped into quasi-retirement without ever really meaning to. Garth had actually called to check in before any of them realized that weeks had gone by without taking a hunt. And now that the decision was conscious, they were all still on call for phones and research, but Eileen was the only one actually going out into the field. They were happy this way, though. They had, as Dean had pointed out, “damn well earned it.”</p><p> </p><p>So, as Cas shifted his focus back to the present to see Dean giving him that small, wistful smile, the fondness in his eyes was almost dizzying-- overwhelming and wonderful.</p><p> </p><p>They cleaned up the worst of the mess in contented silence and headed to bed. Tomorrow, after all, was a big day.</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>When Cas woke up, it was still early enough that he should have been first, but Dean’s side of the bed was already empty. Cas smiled to himself; Dean had been planning Jack’s birthday since before Sam’s birthday had ended. One had to wonder if he had even slept at all, or simply lain awake with excitement like a child on Christmas Eve.</p><p> </p><p>As he trudged into the kitchen, sights set on coffee, it was clear that the latter was the case.</p><p> </p><p>Dean didn’t even notice Cas walk in, absorbed as he was in the setup of his pancake buffet bar. A dish towel was draped in its usual post over his left shoulder, and he was jovially bopping along to <em> Thunderstruck </em>.</p><p> </p><p>He continued fussing over bowls of fruit and powdered sugar as Cas grabbed a mug and settled in at the table. Eventually, Dean stopped to survey his work. Seeming sufficiently pleased, he turned to ask, “You wanna go wake the kids up?”</p><p> </p><p>Cas cocked an eyebrow.</p><p> </p><p>“Or- I mean- we could let ‘em sleep,” Dean conceded, but his face fell noticeably.</p><p> </p><p>“How about,” Cas offered warmly, “we can wake them up once Sam and Eileen are up?” Sam was an early riser anyhow; waking up two early-twenty-somethings before him would be borderline criminal.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, okay,” Dean smiled, almost sated. He looked down at the counter, hands hovering, clearly wanting to keep fussing, but seeing nothing to fix. “Okay.”</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>Not long after, once everyone had been assembled in the kitchen, breakfast passed with only minor incident. (Sam had wanted to put a candle in Jack’s pancakes, but Dean insisted that they wait for cake, citing “tradition” and “anticipation” and “letting some things be sacred.”)</p><p> </p><p>Claire and Jack took the bowls of leftover fruit and retreated to their Lego Star Wars fest as Sam and Eileen hunkered down for some overdue research. Cas, of course, simply aided Dean in his lazer-focus on Birthday Festivities. They spent longer than Cas would have thought possible arranging the trays of chocolates, bowls of chips, and a pile of gifts onto the library table, but in the end, he had to admit that it did look spectacular.</p><p> </p><p>“Hell,” Cas heard Dean murmur under his breath, “I coulda been an event planner.” He let Dean take the moment to basque in his pride; it didn’t happen enough, he thought, so it ought to be properly savored.</p><p> </p><p>But then Dean clapped his hands together, loudly, and beamed over as Cas. “Cake!” he stage-whispered.</p><p> </p><p>They carefully brought out the multi-layered confection and set it in a place of honor on the table. It really was beautiful, in that rustic homemade sort of way. Dean had baked it himself (chocolate, from scratch) and painstakingly applied the icing (vanilla, also from scratch). Cas had been allowed to apply the green “Happy Birthday, Jack!” on the grounds that he had the best penmanship, but then it was back to Dean for the rest of the piping. Sam had been firmly denied any decorating access, which he reluctantly agreed was probably for the best.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay,” Dean practically buzzed, “I’m gonna go get Jack.” And he was already halfway out of the room by the time Cas was able to interject, “Candles?”</p><p> </p><p>Dean stopped so quickly Cas could practically hear a tire screech from under his feet.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s okay,” Cas laughed. “I think I can handle it. You go get everyone.”</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>As everyone filed in a few moments later, he was delighted to see Dean’s smile at his work-- 19 candles spiraling inward, with “2” and “1” candles placed carefully in the very center.</p><p> </p><p>Dean’s expression, however, was nothing next to Jack’s.</p><p> </p><p>The smile spread across his face slowly but grandly, his eyes as bright as they’d ever been.</p><p> </p><p>“Dean,” he whispered in awe, “you did all of this for me?”</p><p> </p><p>“Well,” he guffawed in modesty, “everybody helped.”</p><p> </p><p>Everybody knew better.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll admit it, Old Man,” Claire piped up, pulling back a chair for herself, “I’m impressed.”</p><p> </p><p>Cas’s heart melted just a little at the smile Dean fought back.</p><p> </p><p>Jack then revealed a pie that he and Castiel had bought for Dean to eat instead of cake (“We tried to make one! It… didn’t go well.”) They sang happy birthday and whisper-counted to 21-- though at Claire’s suggestion, they also shouted on the number 4.</p><p> </p><p>Already full of cake, Jack was overcome by the knowledge that <em> all </em>of the chocolates were nougat-filled, and it was once again Claire’s insistence that moved things along into present-opening territory.</p><p> </p><p>Because of course, their family being amassed as it was, there were a lot of presents to get through.</p><p> </p><p>Cas suggested his-- a terrarium, a succulent, and a new little castle for Jack’s fish tank-- be first, since he was worried about light exposure.</p><p> </p><p>Next came Dean’s: a new copy of <em> Super Smash Brothers </em>, which Jack now realized he had forgotten to ask about the night before, and then a set of toy lightsabers, complete with sound effects.</p><p> </p><p>Jack stared at them for a moment, and then looked up at Dean like he was seeing the sun.</p><p> </p><p>“Can we-”</p><p> </p><p>“Whenever you want,” Dean grinned back. “But I get to be green.”</p><p> </p><p>Jack’s smile continued growing impossibly brighter over the next several minutes as he opened a pair of aquamarine headphones from Claire and Alex (“So you don’t have to listen to Dean’s old man music all the time.”) and a polaroid camera from Patience and Kaia (“You’re apparently going to take a really good one later, but she wouldn’t say what of.”)</p><p> </p><p>Then there was a watercolor set from Jody and Donna, books from Sam-- including <em> Where the Sidewalk Ends </em> , <em> The Lightning Thief, </em> and <em> The Collected Works of T.S. Eliot </em>-- and finally an X-Wing lego set from Eileen.</p><p> </p><p>The cake made its way around once-- or twice-- more, Claire started reading the lego instructions, and Jack began learning the patient exhilaration of polaroid candids.</p><p> </p><p>Naturally, the sunglasses and boas worked their way back into the scene, and everyone could only assume it was Patience’s vision coming to pass when Jack forever immortalized in film the moment Cas smudged frosting all over Dean’s nose, a forkful of pie halfway into his mouth and oversized yellow lenses covering half of his face.</p><p> </p><p>In the end, Cas was right. It <em> was </em>perfect.</p><p> </p><p>And it would have been no matter what, because they were home, because they were family-- but it was so much better for all these little things.</p><p> </p><p>Dean smacking Sam’s hand away when he reached for the pie.</p><p> </p><p>Jack laughing too hard to take a good picture as Claire and Eileen dueled out a dramatic lightsaber battle on top of the war room table.</p><p> </p><p>Sam teaching Jack to shake the developing polaroids, telling them, “It doesn’t really help, but it does make it feel faster.”</p><p> </p><p>Cas looked over at Dean, watching him take it all in, watching his eyes crinkle as his body shook with abrupt waves of laughter. He reached over to take Dean’s hand, relishing it all. Dean squeezed Cas’s hand, and the next moment he was turning, still mid-laugh, to flash his smile toward his angel (now with a lowercase “a”).</p><p> </p><p>The bunker was loud, and that was a good thing. There were screams and shouts, people running-- but not because they had to. There was no danger in their midst. Their chaos now was just love, finally able to breathe free.</p><p> </p><p>Cas leaned in toward his son, catching his eye away from the pile of developing photographs.</p><p> </p><p>“Happy birthday, Jack,” he whispered, just loud enough.</p><p> </p><p>Jack’s answering smile was radiant.</p><p> </p><p>Perfect.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This was written for SPN Fam Secret Santa 2020. Enjoy! xx</p></blockquote></div></div>
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